In the Phaedo we see Socrates on the day leading up to his execution – still philosophizing and calmly pursuing truth. Central to this pursuit, both on the day, and through his whole life, has been arete (virtue, or excellence): we can see here that Plato’s philosophy is no mere theoretical exercise, but profoundly united to the life lived. The sharing of wisdom with his companions is a moving experience for them – and for us if we read the dialogue as an initiatory moment. We will read passages from the dialogue, and discuss some of its implications.
Admission is free, but we do encourage those who are able to donate £5 in order to cover our costs, either as cash on the day or donating through this website
Most of these evenings are self-contained and every effort is made to make them accessible to the newcomer, while allowing the great profundity of the Platonic tradition to step forward and speak to us at whatever level our present understanding sits. Some of these sessions are coupled together, in order to give us the space to examine more fully particular texts and themes, but even here we will ensure that if those attending have missed the first of the two sessions a recap of what has gone before will help all participants to pick up the main threads of the theme.
We will add a paper here for you to download.
The Trust has run similar activities for some 18 years, and in our experience they allow the most profound questions concerning human life, the nature of reality, and our interactions, to be explored at once both seriously and with good cheer. Our aim is to provide a forum for honest and straight-forward enquiry, but which is unafraid to explore inward-moving paths too often neglected by modern schools of thought.
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